Advances in processor, networking and other related technologies have led to increased networked computing and abundant availability of content on private and public networks. Users may access the available content from electronic devices remote from the content storage and interact with content using their local electronic device. A particularly relevant example is software deployment, in which servers may deploy software for usage by one or more electronic devices. In this regard, the servers may build the software code (e.g., an artifact(s)) that is to be deployed into different environments such as, for example, development, production, or quality assurance environments. At present, problems may exist in the software deployment process because typically each software system is unique and the precise procedures for activities relating to deployment may not be uniform. In this regard, problems may arise when one person associated with the deployment process performs procedures in a different fashion from another person.
Additionally, as software development processes and resources become more distributed, the software development process may be more complex, which may cause issues since there are typically many pieces of information that need to mesh together seamlessly to enable successful deployment. With a number of different systems and environments, it may be difficult to identify the software that has been deployed to a particular environment(s). For instance, when code (e.g., software) is deployed into different environments there may be issues related to tracking or identifying relevant information such as, for example, tracking the code (e.g., versions) that went into each environment, identifying what was in each release of the code, identifying who deployed the code to certain environments during the software application lifecycle, identifying where artifacts are stored for a given environment so that the artifacts may be moved to another environment. Currently, this information typically has to be tracked and identified by performing manual processes of searching for the information. For example, in order to identify when or who deployed the software, a user may have to manually log into different systems and view different versions, file sizes, and dates associated with the deployed software as well as manually download files from one or more servers. In this regard, there may be a need for a system that is a capable of maintaining and storing auditing data to enable identification of information as to whom and when the software was deployed to an environment.
Additionally, manually searching for information associated with the deployment of software may be time consuming, burdensome and inefficient. Also, there may be a need to automatically integrate the process of deploying software code from one environment to the next such that it is a repeatable uniform process that may be utilized in a simple, efficient and reliable manner by different individuals who may be involved in the deployment process.
In view of the foregoing problems, it may be desirable to remove the variation and manual process associated with deploying software through an application lifecycle. As such, in view of the foregoing drawbacks, it may be desirable to provide a mechanism that efficiently and reliably deploys software in an automated manner.